Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to gloves and more particularly to gloves, such as those that may be used by medical professionals. Specifically, the present invention relates to a glove fabricated from a material that is free of or essentially free of components that may cause hypersensitivity or allergic reaction in people who wear the glove. The glove material may be free of or essentially free of zinc and/or sulfur and/or accelerators. Furthermore, an index finger region and/or a middle finger region and/or a thumb region on the glove may be left un-textured (i.e., unpatterned or smooth) to enable the user to perform a medical procedure while wearing the glove; or the index or middle finger regions or the thumb region may be differently textured/patterned from the rest of the glove; and/or a fingertip region of the index or middle finger regions and/or the thumb region may be of a reduced or smaller circumference relative to a remaining portion of the associated finger or thumb region such that the material in the fingertip region may tend to be pulled taut over a tip of the user's finger or thumb.
Background Information
Nitrile or nitrile rubber gloves are well known in the art, such as for use in the medical field. One of the problems with such gloves is that some individuals have a hypersensitivity to various compounds that may be included in the gloves, such as zinc and/or sulfur and/or a variety of accelerators. Those accelerators may include but are not limited to components such as carbonates or thiurams. In addition, surgical or other gloves may have a tendency to stretch when worn for long periods of time, whereby the gloves may lose the ability to cling to the user's hand. This tendency for gloves to stretch may be a particular problem for surgeons.